This past Christmas, my wife bought me the Original Trilogy on DVD. Why am I writing about that here? Because it serves the purpose of illustrating something I enjoy about games – the ability to enjoy your favorite worlds even more. I enjoy the inter-connectivity between the different mediums, from music to movies to games. I like being able to watch the DVDs, which moves me onto Battlefront, which leads me to listen to the soundtrack the next day.

I do recognize the dark side, however; sometimes you can get overwhelmed with a brand so much that it becomes ad nauseam. That hasn’t happened to me personally yet with Star Wars, although it is everywhere you look sometimes. If do get sick of seeing a brand everywhere, it’s usually because I don’t enjoy the product in the first place.

For example, I don’t mind seeing Darth Vadar’s face plastered everywhere, but seeing High School Musical cake decorations makes me a little sick. Still – I can’t get too bent; it’s only because I like one brand and not the other.

Back to the gaming side of things, being able to jump in the game world of a movie I’ve just seen is very gratifying – especially when it comes to Star Wars. Each time I re-watch the movies, I think of the environments I’ve been to – I’ve been on Hoth countless of times in everything from a Imperial uniform to a rebel speeder to Jedi fatigues (thanks to Battlefront, Shadows of the Empire, and Jedi Academy for those). I’ve been in the carbonite freezing chamber on Bespin (Battlefront), a cargo hold on board the Executor (Dark Forces), and flown down the Death Star trench (X-wing).

Playing those games means I identify more with each of those scenes when they’re up on the small screen – which enhances the overall experience. Yet another reason I’m glad video games are around.